President Obama has turned the favored sports axiom on its ear by showing the best offense is not a good defense but actually no defense.
In ordering his Justice Department to drop its court advocacy of the 15-year-old federal Defense of Marriage Act, Obama is taking a somewhat passive-aggressive approach to an issue in which he’s publicly ambivalent. Obama left it to his Attorney General Eric Holder to announce the decision, which he did by press release. Holder said recent suits by New York and Connecticut in courts where there is a higher bar to protect minority rights made the continued defense untenable. And with one loss already in federal court in Boston last year, Holder says there is no defense of the indefensible.
Obama, who overwhelmingly won support of gays despite his personal opposition to same-sex marriage, has now thrown the ball into Congress’ lap and could set up an interesting clash of ideologies within the GOP ranks. With several constitutional challenges in the court system, including the one by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, it will now be left to Congress to fund the defense of DOMA.
But in the frenzy to cut the federal budget, even in symbolic ways, will the libertarian base of the Tea Party lose out to or join the social conservatives who see same-sex marriage as an assault on families? Can they justify spending millions in legal fees for a social issue while cutting billions in home fuel assistance and student aid?
Since DOMA was passed in 1996 and signed into law by then-President Clinton, five states, led by Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriages and another seven states recognize some form of civil unions. Hawaii – whose legislature scared the beejeezus out of Congress and triggered DOMA when lawmakers in the Rainbow State passed a short-lived civil union bill 20 years ago – became the latest to join the growing crowd when the governor signed a new civil union bill into law yesterday. The Maryland state Senate yesterday passed a same-sex marriage bill that virtually assures it will become law there.
There’s also the fact that a growing number of polls show more than half of Americans believe gays should have the same legal rights as wedded heterosexuals and they want Congress to focus on jobs.
The conservative wing is predictably arguing Obama is “playing politics” by caving into pressure from gay rights activists. “This is the real politicization of the Justice Department – when the personal views of the president override the government’s duty to defend the law of the land,” House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas said in a statement.
These are the same people who say they are simply following the will of “the people” to cut the federal budget and are vowing to withhold funding for Obama’s health care reform, which is the law of the land as well. It seems in politics, one ideologue’s pandering is another’s mandate.
–JACK SULLIVAN
UNION
WBUR notes how quiet Obama is as union protests grow in swing states. The station also asks whether government employees are too well paid.
As Wisconsin goes, so goes the US, reports Joe Klein in Time.
On NECN, Jim Braude referees a union discussion between Christen Varley of the Massachusetts Tea Party and Democratic state Sen. Ken Donnelly of Arlington.
The Herald suggests a Wisconsin-style union crackdown could save $250 million in Massachusetts, and the paper’s editorial page has the following to say to US Rep. Ed Markey: “Whatever.”
Rep. Michael Capuano forgot all about the new civility, and he’s getting bloodied up because of it.
The battle over collective bargaining in Wisconsin has done the impossible – reunite long-sparring private- and public-sector unions.
Jack Spillane has an on-the-money piece in the Standard Times about why public unions are a good thing but how their intransigence has justifiably made the taxpayers hate them.
Indiana Republicans say they’re dropping the labor bill that caused that state’s Democratic lawmakers to flee to Illinois.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Lynn Fire Department plans to hire 10 new firefighters with the help of a $1.4 million federal grant, the Item reports.
Ashburnham suggests that it share its town administrator with Ashby, as a test drive for regionalization and shared services. Ashby has been without a town administrator for more than a year.
Rep. Dan Winslow wants Norfolk to host a federal prison, saying the town could use the cash the lockup would bring. Winslow floated the idea after Beacon Hill stopped providing $300,000 in annual prison mitigation funds, which helped pay for public safety services.
Two Lynn women file a complaint alleging the Lynn Lions Club is violating its own policies by trying to sell land used as a camp to a developer who plans to bring in big box stores like Wal-Mart and Lowe’s, the Item reports.
HEALTH
The nonprofit group in charge of coordinating the nation’s organ donations is considering changes to its matching protocol that would favor younger, healthier patients over older ones for receiving the best kidneys.
The Patrick administration named a retired National Guard colonel and longtime Veterans Administration aide as superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers Home. The Springfield Republican, however, says the selection and interview process were inexplicably shrouded in secrecy and the governor’s office is refusing to release normally available public documents.
COURTS
Fox-25 has a report saying Roxbury District Court is a mess and lays it at the feet of Boston Municipal Court Chief Justice Charles Johnson. The Fox story includes reports and internal correspondence documenting the problems, including a letter from a judge who says in an interview he quit out of frustration.
EDUCATION
Bridgewater-Raynham school officials say students who attended full-time kindergarten performed markedly better than their non-kindergarten peers.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Apple’s shareholders voted down a resolution calling on the board of directors to formulate a public succession plan but the proposal shows how jittery investors are about who will follow founder and CEO Steve Jobs, who is once again out for medical reasons.
The Globe’s technology writer Hiawatha Bray is breathless over the newly released Xoom (we don’t know how to pronounce it, either) from Motorola, which he anoints as the first serious challenger in the tablet market to the iPad.
Nearly 600 RIFfed workers from the A.J. Wright distribution center in Fall River showed up at a resource fair for information about training, education and, most importantly, job opportunities. The fair came at the same time Wright parent TJX released its annual report that showed the Wright chain had its largest-ever sales in the last quarter before shuttering the center and laying off the workers.
The Globe reports that rising oil prices due to Middle East unrest could hurt an already fragile US economic recovery. In its Curious Capitalist blog, Time asks whether $100 a barrel oil will kill the recovery.
The Globe reports that Tufts Health Plan is in talks to acquire Cambridge Health Alliance’s managed care plan, Network Health.
Jobs Americans won’t do: Add pickpocketing to that list.
As New Mexico‘s economy struggles, so does its space tourism launch pad.
The weather more than the economy has been the reason Girl Scout cookie sales have been down by five percent in the Boston area, according to Girl Scout CEO Ruth Bramson.
CRIME
Patrice Tierney, wife of US Rep. John Tierney, reports to federal prison camp early for her 30-day sentence.
Two Sunderland brothers were locked up after allegedly storming the police station and attacking the chief and his officers while trying to spring a third brother from custody. They had knives, the cops had guns but none of the siblings were named Daryl.
BEACON HILL
Harvard financial historian Niall Ferguson is the latest to suggest the state sell off assets to pay down its debt.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Cape Wind is still looking for a buyer for half of its planned power after NStar filed contract agreements with the state to purchase some of its mandated renewable energy from three sources in western and northern New England.
The town of Bourne became the 13th Cape Cod community to support a resolution calling on NStar to continue its moratorium on spraying herbicide around its power lines on the Cape.
POLITICS
Former Providence mayor Buddy Cianci isn’t ruling out a run for the Senate.
Democratic strategist Doug Rubin, who recently consulted on Treasurer Steve Grossman’s campaign, registered as a Beacon Hill lobbyist for GTech, a gambling technology company that holds contracts with the Massachusetts State Lottery, reports the Globe.
The New England Center for Investigative Reporting found more than $106 million was raised and $77 million was spent in 2010 by candidates around the state.
WASHINGTON
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner believes the federal government can shrink its deficit without touching Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
TRANSPORTATION
The Department of Transportation is asking the Legislature for a supplemental budget to help cover costs from this year’s unusual snowfall. The DOT says it has already spent 50 percent more than it budgeted on 2011 snow removal.
BOSTON POLITICS
The two candidates in the running to replace Chuck Turner on the Boston City Council are split on whether they would support a Wal-Mart opening in Dorchester, according to the Dorchester Reporter.
OSCARS
The Globe has the story of Carie Lemack, a Framingham native whose Oscar-nominated documentary “Killing in the Name” was inspired by her mother’s death during the 9/11 attacks.
X FILES
The Silvio O. Conte Federal Archives and Records Administration in Pittsfield is closing its microfilm reading room because of federal budget cuts. The reading room’s archives include material on the Kennedy assassination, the Bermuda Triangle and the Air Force’s UFO investigations.
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